It is known to brew individual portions of beverages such as coffee and tea from prepackaged individual sachets or capsules containing a single portion of the beverage brewing ingredient such as ground coffee or leaf tea.
The term “sachet” as used in this specification refers to any portion pack containing a predetermined quantity of a beverage brewing ingredient. A beverage brewing ingredient may be any form of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or soup or any other type of drink to which liquid can be added.
GB-A-2121762, EP-A-0179641 and WO99/05036 describe a beverage brewing system according to which individual portions of beverage brewing ingredients are enclosed in flexible film sachets having an inlet nozzle at the top and a seal at the bottom. In use, hot water is injected through the nozzle into the sachet. The beverage is brewed inside the sachet, and the seal at the bottom of the sachet is opened either before or during the brewing to allow the beverage to flow out through the bottom of the seal. This apparatus provides very good quality, freshly brewed filter coffee, chocolate or leaf tea in individual portions.
PCT/GB01/03978 describes apparatus for the injection of aqueous fluid into a sachet in which the injector tube or tubes pierce a side wall of the sachet to inject the aqueous fluid directly into the interior of the sachet. The injector tube or tubes may project into the brewing cavity at an oblique angle to the exit direction of the beverage cavity, more preferably substantially perpendicularly to exit direction of the beverage cavity. PCT/GB01/03978 teaches that the use of sachets without nozzles is preferable to the use of sachets with nozzles because of the greater ease of manufacturing of sachets without nozzles.
One problem associated with brewing beverages using sachets without inlet nozzles is that as the injector penetrates the sachet, the injector comes into contact with the contents of the sachet, which may be, for example, ground coffee or tea leaves, and the outlet hole of the injector may become blocked as a result. Furthermore, cross-contamination can occur upon subsequent penetration of a sachet containing a different type of beverage by the injector.